Trump opioid panel member says ‘We want medicine, not media’

Trump opioid panel member says ‘We want medicine, not media.’

(CNN) Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, a member of the President’s commission on opioid addiction, has a message for the Trump administration a day before it is expected to declare a national emergency on the epidemic: “We want medicine, not media.”

When asked about first lady Melania Trump’s recent focus on the issue and the expectation she will continue to be part of the public effort, Kennedy didn’t mince words.

“We don’t want any more photo-ops,” the former Democratic congressman from Rhode Island said in a phone interview with CNN on Wednesday. “I’m just speaking as an advocate, in this fight every single day as someone who is in recovery and someone who is an advocate. We don’t want any more visits to rehab centers and photo-ops, saying how courageous we are. Enough already. We want to save lives.”

Advocates for Opioid Recovery is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing a science-based, evidence-based treatment system that can reduce death and suffering from opioid addiction, and produce more long-term opioid addiction survivors who are positively engaged in their families and communities. Contact us at [email protected].